"Lethal Soccer Mom" (a.k.a., "Sidelined") is a taut drama about the competitive high school soccer scene at Rawley High School, home of the Wildcats. The film features probably the most monomaniacal and psychopathic coach on the planet.
Coach Rhonda lives through her daughter Hailey, whom she is grooming as the team's star striker. But when Cameron transfers from Westfield, where she led the team to a state championship, Coach Rhonda will do everything in her power to undermine Cameron's chances so that her daughter will not be upstaged.
In the course of the film, the coach is guilty of assault with a deadly weapon, harassment, academic dishonesty, pedophilia, and murder, not to mention child abuse. It is not unusual for a gifted athlete to transfer to a different school. For a good coach, Cameron would have been welcomed onto the team. Instead, Coach Rhonda makes her life a living hell.
The film was exceptionally well directed with good tension building in the midsection of the film and running to the end. The filming in the school included interesting camera angles, close-ups, and an eerie scoring motif. The performances were excellent, and the soccer field scenes were well-choreographed.
At the heart of the film is Cameron's nightmare at a new school. Her only support comes from her mother Kate. Both Coach Rhonda and Kate were living through their daughters' experiences. But, in the case of Kate, the love of a mother for her daughter trumped any obsession for the daughter to fulfill the mom's expectations. In the end, love conquers all even the machinations of a lethal soccer mom.
Coach Rhonda lives through her daughter Hailey, whom she is grooming as the team's star striker. But when Cameron transfers from Westfield, where she led the team to a state championship, Coach Rhonda will do everything in her power to undermine Cameron's chances so that her daughter will not be upstaged.
In the course of the film, the coach is guilty of assault with a deadly weapon, harassment, academic dishonesty, pedophilia, and murder, not to mention child abuse. It is not unusual for a gifted athlete to transfer to a different school. For a good coach, Cameron would have been welcomed onto the team. Instead, Coach Rhonda makes her life a living hell.
The film was exceptionally well directed with good tension building in the midsection of the film and running to the end. The filming in the school included interesting camera angles, close-ups, and an eerie scoring motif. The performances were excellent, and the soccer field scenes were well-choreographed.
At the heart of the film is Cameron's nightmare at a new school. Her only support comes from her mother Kate. Both Coach Rhonda and Kate were living through their daughters' experiences. But, in the case of Kate, the love of a mother for her daughter trumped any obsession for the daughter to fulfill the mom's expectations. In the end, love conquers all even the machinations of a lethal soccer mom.